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Many homeowners don’t realize that their home is also a savings account. You can do many inexpensive things to your home to protect and enhance its value without beating up your wallet.
Here are some ideas for protecting and enhancing your home’s value:
* Declutter – Money is the only good thing to hoard, so when it comes to your home you can get rid of many items to help declutter your space. Shoeboxes, magazines, newspapers, and more are nothing more than junk that causes clutter. Reclaim your home and add more square footage by getting rid of any and all junk. The holiday season is now upon us, so it makes it an even better time to declutter.
* Switch-it-up – Give your space a new look by rearranging your rooms. Moving furniture and wall hangings can jazz up any space. It’s like getting a home makeover for free.
* Swap it – For very little investment you can swap out knobs, pulls and other items that will refresh your rooms. Add decorative switch plates, update doorknobs and … [Read more...]

If your plan is to remodel, you’ll need to know what your budget can allow before you contact contractors. You can try a project calculator which uses the largest construction database available to provide you a custom estimate on your project. The amazing thing is you can put in your zip code and project information and the Remodeling Budget Estimator will give you figures for dimensions, contractor, labor, material and local pricing.
The DIY Network site uses information from the most respected data sources that spans over thirty years in the construction industry. The data consist of a multitude of factors that impact your project, such as the consumer price index, specific materials, exact dimensions, local pricing and markup by the contractor.
The research is updated every 90 days throughout the nation to stay on top of material cost by hundreds of lumberyards. They compile labor cost by tracking trends and also collect data from professional remodeling contractors who use this … [Read more...]